studio tidying and a little knitting project...

it's such a joy after what seems forever to be back in my studio...my lovely WARM studio...out of the cold and icy weather which is so welcome as it bring sunshine...and beautiful wintry shapes...full of inspiration...

it may be a total mess in here...a creeative mess but it's all a pleasure to sort out...so much nicer than tidying the house somehow as I can play with fabrics as I go... and hatch plots of such great creativity and craftyness...designing here...artwork there...the only thing is not to get so diverted no tidying actually happens!

  

outside today is bright and sunny so a chance to sit out in a deck chair...swathed in hats, gloves and many fleeces...just bathing in the golden rays and feelng happy in the moment...Basil sleek and handsome cat that he is... joins me for a while... 

I take the opportunity for some playing in my sketchbook... I so want to just play around and see what comes, so I'm trying to do a little something each day... 

and here comes Emilia the cheeky chicken...my favourite but don't tell the others...

and here's a little knitting project you might like...I love to knit simple bags...bung them in the washing machine and ta da!

these are so simple to knit, choose a nice 100% wool and knit a biggish oblong, I cast on about 38-42 stitches with a nice thickish yarn say a chunky or Icelandic, and make about 30cm of i-cord for handles which I sew on...you can look on u-tube here if you don't know how to do that... I cast on 6 or 7 stitches and keep the tail ends for sewing on...knit the i-cord first and use the rest of the ball to knit the bag...just remember the knitting will shrink so make everything bigger than you think!

why not have a go...

I love felting in the washing machine as you never quite know how things will turn out...here's a lovely cardi all felted up and ready to turn into a bag...seem a shame somethime to cut them up but often they are sad and neglected and I can give one jumper a new life as bags, brooches, maybe put in a picture...ooh I do love it!

hope this inspires you to get making and playing...or just enjoying the moment you're in, have a great week...
love Emmax

girlie getaway...

it may seem that I haven't been at home much of late ...with journeys here and shopping trips there but believe me I have and the tottering piles have been getting on top of me despite my best efforts... so the bliss of driving away with a packed bag...and boarding a train to York...was wonderful! Even better was that I was meeting up with my dearest school friends (sadly one down as Liz couldn't make it) but Jan, Chris Julia and moi gathered in a nice clean quiet Band B for some R and R and putting the world to rights and catching up on our lives. Hard to believe it is almost a year since we last met...and this time it's "Four of Our Housewives Are Missing!"

I love train travel...it's so simple to get on a train and sit and read and look out of the window with no responsibility other than to get on and get off...perhaps I could start a therapy called "train relaxation" and arrange the tickets for people to do just this and then come home again, you don't even need to stay away a night!

I love the quirky stations with their legacy of the amazing Victorian engineering now overlaid with all mod cons and electronics and wifi...and I love the smooth new trains and all the people I can watch as I travel...

I was in the purple zone at Penrith...not sure if that's just my state of mind...

the B and B was quiet and clean and restful...no 'stuff'... and it was easy to walk into the centre of York...I love the mix of ancient wonky walls and modern commerce..so many lovely independent shops and inspiring galleries...and of course Tea Establishments...

 

 

 

 

 

 

the beautiful and truly awe inspiring York Minster...

parts of the Minster are being repaired and it's amazing to see the simple blocks of stone being turned into intricate carvings...

 

just loved this sign..wonder who lives there?

and when you get to this point it's time to head back for a cuppa tea and a lie down before you head out for lovely evening meal...no cooking, no washing up and no 'what's for tea'...just sheer enjoyment and lots of fun as we celebrate friendship and simple joyfulness!

hope you had a great weekend too...back to making soon!xx

summer sweetness...and some making...

a rose is just summer for me..rain or no...that beautiful sweet haunting deliciousness as you inhale the perfume...

and honeysuckle twining high in the trees but still filling the air with its scent

just put your nose into the deliciously pretty Philadelphus or mock orange...mmmm...just wish this was a scented post so you could have the full effect...and the combination of fresh creamy white, soft pink and primrosey yellow is perfection...



daughter mine collected 25 heads of elderflowers to make some delightful elderflower cordial last week...which captures this particular scent of summer beautifully

not all the flowers in our garden are scented..some earn their keep with their beauty alone...I love clematis and have several...they are so obliging and fit in almost anywhere...

and as for geraniums...we counted them one year...all the different types and shades...all their different names...many forgotten now and just loved for their colours and ability to fill the beds with blowsy summeryness (and not be eaten by our slugs and snails...)

and how quickly things change in the garden...I love to follow the flowers throught their different stages...each with its own beauty...

and I delight in the detail of each one...isn't it amazing how how the raindrops balance on the stamens of this amazingly coloured potentilla...

and in the studio daughter mine has been cutting fabrics and planning and making and stitching and ...with no rules or much in the way of a pattern has produced a wonderful dress...it is joyful to watch her at work!

she is an inspiration to me in how she just has the idea, organises herself and whatever she needs, sets to and makes...mind you she isn't thinking about the teetering pile...hoovering and what's for tea...tho' she does often have a pile of schoolwork to get through...

instant patchwork...just cut the squares sew in strips and then stitch the strips together...allow them to gather as they will...

no worries about how to put a zip in...ha ha!! easy peasy...just cut it out of something else with the fabric around and stitch in place ta da! genius! and doesn't it look fab?

she even lined the top...and the underskirt was made from an old lacy underskirt attached to more fabric to make it the right size...

and the top was made from some of my Granny's fabric stash...a pretty broderie anglais in blue...creativity continues in how the sleeves were sewn on...finished off with perfect blue buttons and there you have it!

I am amazed and proud...and think how my Mum and Granny would like to see!